Cloudburst
by misfire ezreal
Summary: Juvia was warned that college could be wild, and that boys would fling themselves at her. Juvia just didn't expect her celebrity crush to literally fling himself into the passenger seat of her car - SHIRTLESS. A Gruvia AU.
1. Chapter 1

**CLOUDBURST**

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by xoxoPigTails

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Chapter 01

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Magnolia was not particularly known for its rain, but Juvia was unsurprised when she woke up and found that it was pouring torrentially outside of her new dorm room.

She'd grown up with the soft pitter-patter of raindrops as her lullabies, so it was comforting to wake up to the sound. She hailed from a Podunk town that was notorious for its nearly-constant rainfall for the past eighteen years, starting the day she was born. Growing up, other children would taunt her, blaming her for the rain; consequently, she had hated it for many, many years, even going so far as to sew teru-teru dolls almost daily in the hopes that it would make the dreadful deluge cease.

Rain had been miserable because she could only ever associate it with misery.

It wasn't until Juvia was older that she had come to really appreciate the rain. (She owed it to a certain fateful encounter.) She came to enjoy the soft drip-drop sounds, and eventually, she came to love water in general. She learned how to swim, joined the swim team, and pushed herself in practices until water became her element, her home away from home, and she brought back a medal from every competition she took part in.

Which was how she'd landed a swimming scholarship to Magnolia University.

Juvia stretched her arms, yawning, and then threw her blankets off of her. She started getting ready for her day, going through the motions as she reminded herself of today's schedule.

It was Sunday, and school was the next morning. She had a few textbooks to pick up still from the bookstore a few miles off campus, so that was her first order of business once she ate breakfast. Then Gajeel would be coming over around noon with her mini-fridge (she didn't want to carry it up to her dorm on her own, since her building had no elevators), so she would have to be back in time for that. And, finally, her roommate - a cheerful blonde named Lucy who seemed, to Juvia, to be quite the airhead- had invited her and Gajeel to eat dinner together with her.

That would leave Juvia just enough time in the evening to get a head start on some of her reading before heading to bed. Confident that she had thoroughly planned out her day, Juvia examined her outfit in the mirror: her favorite blue dress with white accents, the one that hugged her in all the right places, and sturdy knee-high boots that made her legs look nice and long. She slid a cute hair clip into her hair, flipped her blue locks over her shoulder, and grabbed her umbrella and purse before leaving her dorm.

She looked great. Today was going to be a good day.

After grabbing a quick breakfast of eggs and a muffin from the campus cafeteria, Juvia headed through the rain towards the parking lot. The rain picked up when she was about half-way there; she hunkered down beneath her umbrella and quickened her pace, careful to mind her steps as she walked.

She made it safely to the lot and slid gratefully into her car's front seat. She sighed, glancing at her reflection in her rearview mirror. Her hair hadn't frizzed at all (a big plus, in her book) and, for the most part, her clothes were still dry, so she was content with-

A shadow suddenly crossed her view in her mirror. Startled, Juvia turned in her seat to look out her left-side window.

It wasn't a shadow.

It was a person, and they were making their way towards her driver's-side window.

Juvia barely managed to contain the scream that threatened to rip itself free from her throat. She hastily turned her engine on, reaching for her gear shift, but then the figure was suddenly tapping on her window.

It was a male, and in a deep, gruff voice muffled slightly by the closed door, addressed her.

"Hey, can you give me some directions?"

Juvia was no fool.

"No," she called back, "Juvia isn't familiar with this place." Her grip tightened on her steering wheel, and she touched the gear shift, ready to back out if need be.

"Hey, come on, I just need to - holy shit." The boy ducked down, keeping Juvia from getting a decent view of his face (to report to the authorities, naturally). It was obvious he was hiding from something.

Unbridled fear swept through her.

 _Is he a gang member?_ she wondered worriedly. _Is he running from the mob? Am I going to die because he upset the government and they mistake me as an accomplice?_ Her mind was quickly overrun with images of blazing metal and rapid gunfire and jail time. Her grip on the steering wheel tightened. _But Juvia can't go to jail! She'd lose her scholarship!_

In a desperate show of self-preservation, Juvia looked out her rearview mirror to see what the boy was running from.

All she saw was a group of young girls traipsing through the rain. They were dressed well, like most college girls; they certainly didn't look like members of an illegal cartel. They were quite a distance away, and they weren't looking in her direction. In fact, Juvia was pretty sure the only reason she could really make the girls out through the downpour was because of all her years growing up in the rain. She doubted they could clearly make her or the boy out.

"Let me in your car!" hissed the boy from somewhere beneath her window. "Please!"

"Absolutely not!" Horror swept through her. "Juvia doesn't let serial killers into her car! In fact, Juvia was just about leaving!"

"Serial killers? Wha- listen, just-" The boy stumbled to find words. He sounded frustrated, even to Juvia. And somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt she should be noticing something. There was something about his voice... Was it his tone? Had she met someone before who had sounded this desperate? Surely not. She would've remembered... "I'll pay you two hundred bucks! Just... Just get me off campus, okay?"

Juvia was about to shift into reverse and leave him to the mud and his uncertain fate when she paused. She was a poor college student, after all, and the lure of easy money was certainly tempting...

"You're not a serial killer?" she asked, voice trembling just a little in spite of herself.

"No! What the heck, where would you even come up with that?" Not pausing to let Juvia explain, he continued, "Just unlock the car, I'm soaked out here!"

Juvia, after another moment of hesitation, decided to do it. After all, she could use the cash to pay for her textbooks. Plus, it really WAS pouring down outside, and Juvia was beginning to feel sorry for the boy, despite his possible mafia associations. Nobody deserved to be out in rain like that.

"Sit on the passenger side," Juvia said. She unlocked the car, and seconds later, the boy quickly joined her inside the vehicle, roughly slamming the door closed behind him and letting out a string of foul language.

Juvia couldn't help the small gasp that found its way out of her mouth as she drank in his appearance.

He had black, messy hair that was currently plastered to his (positively gorgeous) angular face. He was shifting in the seat beside her, yanking off his soaked, white tee-shirt; Juvia could easily make out his well-toned body from her position beside him. He didn't seem to have heard her gasp over his own dark grumbling, a noise that thrilled Juvia.

The attraction that coursed through her was instantaneous, but it wasn't just because this uninvited guest was dashingly handsome.

No, she recognized this boy.

He was from one of the most popular bands in the whole nation: Fairy Tail. He was the lead guitarist, the boy every teenage girl fell for. Juvia was no exception; she had posters of him on her dorm room walls and had a whole collection of his band's music albums on her bookshelf. One of her selection criteria for a roommate was that she was also a fan of Fairy Tail.

Gray Fullbuster had been Juvia's celebrity crush for two years now.

And he was getting her passenger side seat all wet from the rain.

xoxoxoxox

 **Hiya, kittens. I've always wanted to write a story like this, so I'm doing it, haha. Lemme know what you think! Love yall!**

 **xoxoPigTails**


	2. Chapter 2

**CLOUDBURST**

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by xoxoPigTails

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Chapter 02

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"G-Gray," she managed to stutter out. "Gray Fullbuster!"

The boy let out a sound of annoyance. His dark eyes glared into the rain, presumably toward the girls who he's been running from. (It made sense now; he must have run into those fangirls, and needed to escape.) He had a rumbling baritone, and it reminded Juvia of the quiet thunder that rolled gently right before a storm calmed.

"Just get going, before they see us."

Juvia tore her gaze away from his (absolutely perfect) face and nodded, pulling out of the lot and onto the street.

Two emotions overtook her as she drove in the general direction of the bookstore: excitement (she was sitting next to GRAY FULLBUSTER) and nervousness (she was sitting next to GRAY FULLBUSTER). Her thoughts were running a mile a minute, and she was struggling to keep her eyes fixed on the road rather than her passenger's (incredibly toned) chest.

 _How can Juvia leave a good impression?_ she thought. _Juvia could make him lunch - but Juvia doesn't have a kitchen in her dorm, that won't work. Maybe he likes textbooks? Juvia doesn't have much money, but maybe Juvia can buy him something at the bookstore!_ The daydreams she'd allowed herself to delude in from time to time, the ones she fell asleep to each night, were suddenly very real possibilities, and they swam through her mind, begging to be more than just her wildest fantasies.

She was so lost in her own rampaging imagination that she didn't hear Gray's words the first time he addressed her.

But his voice did call her back to reality.

"Wh-what?"

"I asked where the heck you were takin' me."

"Oh." Juvia mentally shook herself; now was not the time to become distracted. If her inattention caused harm to Gray, she would never forgive herself, especially since he had put his trust in her, a complete stranger pulling out of the parking lot at the right time. She focused on the street ahead, doing her best to keep her imagination in check. "Juvia is headed for the bookstore."

Gray let out a sigh; Juvia just barely contained the shiver she felt threatening to shoot up her spine.

"There'll be more kids there who recognize me, probably," he mumbled; it seemed to Juvia that he was talking more to himself than her. "Guess it can't be helped. Hope they have hoodies or something."

"Juvia thinks they have ponchos," she offered.

"Yuck." Gray made a face, but then sighed again. "But I'll take what I can get, at this point."

"Juvia can go inside and get it for you." Her heart sped up. Would he accept her offer? He'd been the one to approach her first, so he had to have placed some sort of trust in her. It made no sense for him to have trusted her so completely, but he must have seen something in her that made him believe in her.

"Nah, it's fine. I owe you, so I'll help out with your books, if you want."

Juvia was flattered. It was an honest gesture, and gentlemanly, too, and it checked off all the boxes in her Knight in Shining Armor list. Besides that, she was a broke college student, as broke as they came, and two hundred bucks less spent on textbooks was two hundred bucks more she got to keep in her pocket.

"Thank you!" She couldn't help but gush, just a bit. After all, Gray Gullbuster was handsome and talented (and chivalrous, too, apparently) and he was going to PAY FOR HER TEXTBOOKS. One of the most popular men in the whole world was taking time out of his day to repay her for a favor. Juvia had to express her gratitude _some_ how. "Juvia is very happy!"

For a moment, it looked like Gray intended to say something back to her. But instead, he turned to face the window, looking out at the gloomy sky. They fell into a relaxed silence, and Juvia's mind was able to calm down.

"Does it rain a lot in Magnolia?" he asked after a few minutes. Juvia was so startled by him that she nearly missed the turn into the textbook's parking lot.

"Oh. Uhm, Juvia doesn't think so." A little flustered, Juvia nonetheless composed herself quickly, pulling neatly into a spot right by the shop entrance. "Juvia isn't from here, so she isn't sure."

Actually, she'd looked up the weather patterns extensively, and knew rain was definitely NOT a common occurrence in sunny Magnolia, but her response was the best she could come up with off the top of her head without looking like a complete and total weirdo. Not many people were obsessed with rain patterns the way she was, and Juvia was all too familiar with being thought of as odd for her association with poor weather.

She hoped Gray wouldn't associate her with poor weather. That would be awful. Totally, utterly awful. He would think she was weird, and then she could kiss her daydreams goodbye and flush them down the toilet. No, no, that wouldn't do. Juvia kept her mouth shut tight, and didn't comment on the weather.

Gray opened his door, and Juvia also hopped out of the car. The rain wasn't so bad here, and she decided to forego her umbrella and instead to just hurry inside the store. Gray had already made it to the door, and he held it open for her.

She blushed and stopped where she was, eyes lingering on his bare chest.

"Uh, G-Gray..." She felt her face heating up. "Y-Your... Shirt..." She averted her gaze at last, vision swimming.

 _Get ahold of yourself!_ she urged inwardly. _Juvia will embarrass Gray if she just stares like a creeper!_

"What?" Gray looked down and was legitimately surprised to find himself without a top. "Oh." He sucked in a breath, glanced at Juvia's reddening face, and then traipsed back to her car, grabbing his soaked shirt and pulling it roughly back onto his shoulders.

"That's better," he said in a way that suggested it wasn't.

"Y-Yeah..." Mind still recovering from its hormonal overdrive a few moments ago, she glided inside the bookstore, acutely aware of Gray's proximity to her as she weaved through the aisles to pick up her books.

Understandably, people stared. Juvia heard the excited whispers, and there was no way to miss the way more than one person whipped out a phone to snap a picture of the celebrity walking silently next to her. She did her best to ignore the attention and grabbed her books as quickly as possible.

Of course, the wait in line was unavoidable. Juvia was not the only college student who had put off their textbook shopping til the last minute; freshmen and graduate students alike stood in a queue a mile long, a line that weaved in and out of the book aisles themselves. Even though it was early in the morning, Juvia found herself at the end of a line of bored students that crawled along painfully slowly.

"Juvia is sorry you have to wait." The words slipped out of their own accord, and Juvia looked anxiously at Gray. "Juvia knows you're getting a lot of unwanted attention."

On cue, a giggling group of two boys and two girls walked right by them, stopped, snapped a picture, and then giggled away down the aisle. Gray shot a glare at their retreating forms.

"It can't be helped," he replied. Then he shrugged. "Besides, I owe you."

Juvia felt her lips tug at the corners of her lips. _He's such a kind person,_ she thought. _He could have just handed me the cash and left, but he's escorting me through the store._ It was a gesture she truly appreciated.

"Thank you."

Gray shrugged again, and that was the end of their conversation. They stood quietly, side-by-side, and Juvia was perfectly content with it. The silence was comfortable, and it left her to her own thoughts, which slowly morphed into a lovely daydream involving her, Gray, and a nice, rainy day spent inside watching movies and cuddling.

She came out of her daydream with a smile as she walked up to the cash register. She plopped her books down happily, and began fishing through her purse for her wallet.

She didn't get far.

"I got it," Gray stepped up beside her, and (very smoothly, in Juvia's opinion) slid his credit card across the counter, along with a navy blue poncho. The cashier, a young woman who obviously recognized Gray, took the card, a little stunned, and nodded.

"It'll be three hundred and twenty five dollars and ninety-five cents."

"W-Wait," Juvia said, snatching her own card from her wallet. "Juvia can pay for-"

"I owe you," Gray said, cutting her off. The cashier nervously looked between them. "Just do it."

Before Juvia could protest again, the cashier had already swiped Gray's card.

"Juvia was supposed to make up the difference!" As the cashier bagged her books and Gray signed his signature on the receipt with a quick flourish of his hand, Juvia couldn't help but feel immensely embarrassed, as though she had somehow wronged her celebrity crush.

"Look," Gray said, turning to face her. "It's the least I could do." With that, he grabbed the two bags holding her textbooks, handed one to Juvia (who took it without complaint) and stalked towards the exit. Juvia quickened her pace to catch up to him.

"Still," Juvia said after catching up to him, "I-It feels as if I took advantage of you! And Juvia really... Juvia doesn't like doing that."

Gray, hand reaching for the door, paused. He glanced back at her, and when their eyes met, Juvia did her best not to blush, and instead met his eyes intensely, hoping her sincerity was clear through her gaze. She held herself just a little taller, straightening her posture and holding her chin up.

"Oh. Sorry. That didn't cross my mind." He broke their gaze, and pushed open the door, again holding it for Juvia as she walked out. They stood just underneath a tiny overhang that kept the rain off of them, and it splashed and collected around their shoes. The gentle sound made Juvia think of floating in a pool, and she relaxed, just a bit.

"It's okay," she said. Then she grinned. "Gray, you're a really kind person."

After a split second of obvious hesitation, Gray smiled back. His was small, more of a tiny curl along one side of his mouth than a wide grin, but it made Juvia's heart do a backflip in her chest.

"So are you." He reached into the bag he held, pulled out the poncho, and opened it, pulling it over his head. "I'm off now." He handed the bag of textbooks to her, and then he raised an arm in farewell. "Thanks, Juvia."

She sucked in a breath. _This is how it ends?_ she wondered. _This is how we say goodbye?_ The rain fell around, much softer than when they'd arrived at the bookstore, and Gray was already walking out into it, rain bouncing lightly off his new poncho.

This was nothing like the fairytales she'd heard as a little girl, where prince charming waltzed into a girl's life and swept her off her feet. Nothing like the fantasies she'd had, where Gray charmed her smoothly into a happy marriage and a happier-ever-after.

It brought back memories of a very different kind of goodbye in rain just as gentle.

 _I like this goodbye better._

"Thank you, Gray!" she called to him. He didn't turn around, and for a brief moment or two she thought he might not have heard her. But then he waved again, and her smile brightened. She waved to his retreating form, wondering where he was possibly going, but deciding that she would trust him as much as he had trusted her.

Besides, it was almost eleven o'clock, and if she didn't get back to campus soon, Gajeel was definitely going to be mad.

She got into her car, putting the bags carefully on the passenger seat beside her. She sighed dreamily, putting a hand over her racing heart, and looked at her reflection in her rearview mirror.

Her cheeks were flushed, and even with her umbrella covering her, some of her hair had gotten a little wet. She lovingly reached up and brushed the stray water droplets from her locks.

 _Juvia is never going to forget today,_ she thought. _Never!_

It wasn't until she had gotten back to school and was unloading her textbooks that she noticed an armband dropped on the floor of the passenger side. She lifted it, and her eyes widened when she recognized it as a Fairy Tail armband, emblazoned in black with the band's emblem.

It didn't belong to her, but she placed it carefully inside one of her bags nonetheless.

xoxoxoxox

 **I updated a little early because I'm gonna be gone basically all day this Friday on a college choir trip. Woo~! Have a lovely weekend, lovelies!**

 **xoxoPigTails**


	3. Chapter 3

**CLOUDBURST**

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by xoxoPigTails

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Chapter 02

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"We can wait until it stops raining." Juvia twirled her umbrella, idly watching water drip off the lace accents on its edges.

"You kidding?" Gajeel huffed, already starting to get wet as he stepped out of his truck into the rain. "With your luck, it'll rain all day. Let's just get it done."

Juvia couldn't argue with Gajeel. She knew he was just being honest. Very few days had gone by in their town that it hadn't rained, and even when she and Gajeel had gone on an impromptu vacation together over the summer, rain clouds had dotted the horizon almost every day of their trip.

Where Juvia went, so did the rain.

She waited until Gajeel had mostly taken the refrigerator out of his truck before finally closing her umbrella and reaching out to help him lift it. It was not an easy task; it weighed a lot, and even though Juvia and Gajeel were physically fit, both of them being athletes on scholarships to the university, it put quite a strain on their muscles to lug the thing from the parking lot, up the stairs, and into her dorm room. (Juvia almost dropped it on the stairwell, and it was only thanks to Gajeel that it didn't come crashing down onto her toes.)

Once they were done, Juvia grabbed two water bottles and handed one to Gajeel, who accepted without a word. He sat down on the floor, and Juvia took her place on the edge of her bed, boots sliding back and forth against the wooden floor until she'd settled down. Gajeel wasn't a very talkative person by nature, so they sat in relative silence, drinking their water until Juvia couldn't possibly deal with the quiet any longer.

And besides, she had a _lot_ to talk about.

"Juvia met her idol today," she said, none too dully. Gajeel looked up, his black hair soaked from the rain and plastered against his skin, and raised a studded eyebrow.

"The guy from that over-hyped boy band?"

Juvia huffed. "Fairy Tail isn't over-hyped," she replied. "We've argued about this before."

Gajeel rolled his eyes, but knew better than to pursue that line of conversation with Juvia. "What about him?"

Juvia leaned forward, eyes gleaming excitedly. "Juvia gave him a car ride!"

Gajeel's reaction was less excited than Juvia had hoped for.

"And?"

She leaned back.

"And Juvia got to talk to him," she said. She smiled, in spite of herself, remembering his final wave as he walked away in the rain. "Gray said Juvia was kind! Well, only after Juvia called him kind first, but still."

"Good for you." Gajeel stood up. "Have you gone to see your classes yet?"

Juvia was about to launch into a more in-depth description of her incredible morning, but she paused.

Gajeel sighed. He knew what her hesitance meant.

"Come on." She protested, complaining that they had only just gotten upstairs, but he paid her no mind, heading out the door. Juvia let out a sigh of frustration, but stood and followed him anyways.

"Do you even know where your classes are?" she asked Gajeel as she caught up to him right before they reached the stairwell.

"Unlike you, I think ahead long enough to plan things out," he replied, pulling out a folded paper from his pocket.

"Juvia does plan things out!" Juvia protested. They took the stairs two at a time, neither of them in a mood to waste time taking extra steps. "Juvia just sometimes forgets, is all." Gajeel smirked, and Juvia rolled her eyes. "Besides, the schedules are online. Juvia can pull it up on her phone."

"You do that," Gajeel said in reply. They stepped outside her dorm building to find the rain falling lightly. Gajeel let out a sniff to indicate his dislike of the weather; Juvia simply opened her umbrella and offered it to share, to which Gajeel reluctantly accepted.

The two friends trekked out into the mud and rain, hurrying across campus to the nearest classroom on their schedules: Juvia's Intro to Meteorology. The room was large, and Juvia wondered with wide eyes how she would possibly be able to hear the professor from the back of the room if it was going to be packed with over a hundred students. Some of the classrooms were not so large, though; her matching lab class couldn't hold more than twenty kids at a time, same as some of Gajeel's classes.

College was much, much different than high school. Juvia was beginning to realize more and more that she was in for a totally different way of life.

She couldn't wait for the semester to really start.

xoxoxox

Lucy Heartfilia arrived at exactly six forty-two, twelve minutes later than she said she would be getting to the dorms. This was perfectly fine with Juvia, but Gajeel made it no secret that it irritated him.

When she came in, it was with a resounding bang.

Literally.

The door swung open so quickly that when it smashed into the wall, Juvia let out a squeak of surprise. Gajeel fared only slightly better, slipping from his comfortable position sprawled lazily on the floor to a somewhat threatening, somewhat silly-looking crouch.

"I am _so_ sorry I'm late!" Lucy said, rushing in with a backpack and a suitcase. "I had to go pick up a friend, and then since he doesn't have a car I had to take him all the way to where he's staying, and then his friends wouldn't let me leave, and when I finally did get away, there was loads of traffic – I forgot it was rush hour this time of day – and I am just so, _so_ sorry for making you wait!"

Lucy was blonde with big brown eyes and a well-endowed body, and she looked thoroughly flustered.

Juvia took pity on her.

"We weren't waiting long," Juvia said placatingly. "We can leave when you're ready, if you want to freshen up first."

Lucy took a deep breath, and then grinned. "Sounds good." Lucy gestured to the restroom they shared. "Just give me a minute!"

It really only did take a minute; then Lucy stepped out, some of her hair pulled neatly up in a blue ribbon on the side of her head.

"Okay, let's go!" she declared. "My treat. I'll drive!"

Lucy took them to a hole-in-the-wall place. It looked more like a bar than a restaurant, but Juvia kept her thoughts to herself. Gajeel perked up significantly at the prospect of some alcohol. The building had two levels, but the top floor looked (from what Juvia could see) like it was used for a purpose other than serving customers food and drink.

Lucy walked straight up to the counter, sitting down and waving Gajeel and Juvia over to join her, while the bartender moved to give them her attention. Juvia was taken aback by her dazzlingly white hair and an equally eye-catching maroon dress that showed an abundance of skin. She looked only a few years older than them, and carried a friendly air enhanced by a bright smile.

"Lucy!" she said warmly, her voice much higher in pitch than Juvia had expected. "I haven't seen you all summer!"

"Well, I've been busy," Lucy laughed. "Anyways, school's about to start." She turned to direct the bartender's attention to her two guests, who had situated themselved in the chairs to Lucy's right. "This is my roommate and her friend."

Juvia figured Gajeel wouldn't be likely to introduce himself, even if given such an obvious cue as Lucy had, so she stepped up to do it instead. "Juvia," she said, indicating herself. "His name is Gajeel."

"Oh, how lovely!" The bartender grinned. "I'm Mirajane. Feel free to stop by any time. Friends of Lucy's are friends of mine, too!"

"Thank you," Juvia replied, returning Mirajane's smile with one of her own.

After taking their orders and preparing their drinks, Mirajane left to attend to other people at the counter. This, in turn, wound up in a somewhat awkward silence settling among the three students; Juvia settle for sipping on her water instead of trying to start up a conversation she wasn't sure any of them would be interested in.

Apparently, though, Lucy didn't appreciate prolonged silences; she launched straight into a spiel about how she had come to know the restaurant through a friend from high school. Juvia tuned most of it out, catching only a few bits about her friends performing at the bar sometimes when they were younger and that they were probably going to be attending Magnolia University as well.

She and Lucy, Juvia realized, didn't have very much in common. Lucy had been born and raised in the urban hub that was Magnolia city's prosperous downtown area. Juvia, by contrast, was from a teeny tiny town in the middle of nowhere, with little to no access to the outside world besides her school trips and swimming competitions. Even their fashion senses were different: Juvia preferred modest but tasteful clothes that only showed as much skin as Juvia was comfortable letting be seen; Lucy's outfits were bold and daring, containing flashy jewelry and eye-catching colors and short, short skirts. The only thing they really shared was a love for a certain popular band, and even then, their favorite members were different.

Juvia tried to tune back into Lucy's chatter, but for the most part, it just wasn't related to things that concerned Juvia.

Then, quite suddenly, the topic turned to something that _did_ interest Juvia. Very much.

"I'm so psyched for Fairy Tail's new album."

Like night and day, Juvia's reservedness vanished, overwhelmed by her own feelings of anticipation and excitement. She hopped right into the conversation, instantly tuning into it and letting a reply slip from her lips before she could fully process it herself.

"Juvia is, too" she agreed fervently. "There's so much hype building around it, it's just incredible!"

"Oh, I know!" Lucy said. Beside Juvia, Gajeel rolled his eyes and stood up, heading away from them; Juvia only paid enough attention to him to figure that he must have decided to explore the upstairs level. The topic she and Lucy had turned to was far more appealing to her than Gajeel's disinterest in being there to watch them fangirl. "It's like, they want us to be totally absorbed with it, but they want to keep us guessing, too."

"Exactly." Maybe they had more in common than Juvia had initially thought. "That's how Juvia feels about it, also." She leaned forward in her seat a bit. "There's so much publicity, but we don't know anything about the album at all, really."

"It's so frustrating," Lucy complained. "It's like they're toying with us or something."

Lucy giggled, and Juvia joined in.

"Juvia just thinks it has more to do with the solos," she said. "After all, Fairy Tail hasn't had many solo songs lately. They've mostly been group choruses, and then the members switching off from verse to verse."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "But you know something? There haven't been any leaked clips, but..." She paused, pursing her lips, and looked around, almost as if she might be afraid of being overheard. Then the blonde leaned forward towards Juvia, her blue eyes glowing with excitement and intensity. "I can definitely tell you that there are gonna be two big solo songs. Like, as in, one guy sings the whole thing, and the others are just backdrop."

Juvia's eyes widened. "You're kidding," she breathed.

"Nope." Lucy shook her head, grinning. "I'm serious." She leaned back, waving her hand in front of her. "Of course, that's just what I heard, so don't take it too seriously."

"Who has the solos?" Juvia wondered aloud. _I hope Gray has one,_ she thought, and her mind wandered back to the wristband sitting on her bookshelf in her new dorm room.

Lucy hesitated before speaking.

"Well, I'm not too sure," she admitted, "But from what I've heard, the solos might revolve ar-"

"NATSU!"

Something loud – it sounded like glass breaking – resounded above them on the second floor, followed by a mischievous laugh.

"Serves ya right, Metal Brains."

Juvia and Lucy hopped out of their seats, eyes widening with instant recognition of that voice.

"He's here?" Lucy turned to glare almost accusingly at Mirajane, who simply shrugged, a sheepish grin on her face as she did so. "Why didn't you tell me he was here?"

"I forgot," Mirajane supplied. "He was being really quiet. Like, really, REALLY quiet. He's never quiet, you know, so-"

In the midst of all of Juvia's confusion, a few things managed to click in her mind:

First: that had _definitely_ been Gajeel's voice she heard screaming that name from the second level of the restaurant.

And second: Lucy Heartfilia – her new roommate for the remainder of the semester – somehow knew Natsu Dragneel, the main vocalist for Fairy Tail.

xoxoxox

 **A/N: Phew, back to getting the plot rolling! Classes start the next day for Juvia and pals. This is only getting started. :)**

 **Lemme know what you thought in a review! Thanks, and have a good week, y'all.**

 **xoxoPigTails**


	4. Chapter 4

**CLOUDBURST**

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by xoxoPigTails

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Chapter 04

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Strictly speaking, Juvia Lockser had never known anybody famous _while_ they were famous.

She had to add the _while_ because she _did_ know someone famous, before he actually reached any sort of high esteem.

She had dated him, actually.

But she had never known someone personally when they had reached any sort of epitome of wild acclaim. She didn't know anybody else who did, either.

At least, she had thought she didn't.

But, she realized, mind reeling from the confusion and screaming from upstairs, that perhaps she had been wrong about that.

It sure _sounded_ like Gajeel Redfox knew Natsu Dragneel pretty well.

Many emotions washed over her: anger that her best friend in the whole entire world had kept such a crucialpiece of information to himself, confusion as to _why_ he would keep such a crucial piece of information to himself, betrayal that he _had_ kept such a crucial piece of information to himself, and...

Well.

Her eyes strayed to the beautiful blonde beside her.

Jealousy. Quick, flaring, and hot, it welled up inside Juvia's body, pouring through her veins like molten liquid bubbling beneath the surface right before an explosive eruption.

She was jealous that this blonde was friends with someone famous.

Juvia barely knew Lucy Heartfilia, but Lucy Heartfilia was closer to Gray Fullbuster than Juvia had ever been, even when he was sitting right next to her this morning.

But that was a far-off, distant memory through the fog of Juvia's emotions. Instead, traitorous images flashed through her mind, crashing like lightning in her head, and just as shocking. Lucy Heartfilia, star-struck as Gray leaned over to hand her the books she'd dropped in the middle school hallway – Lucy Heartfilia, smiling in her warm winter coat and scarf as she looked over the texts she and Gray had sent each other – Lucy Heartfilia, laughing with Gray over a lovely dinner at a fancy restaurant – Lucy Heartfilia, sighing lovingly at a framed portrait of Gray in her bedroom – Lucy Heartfilia, talking with Gajeel and Gray at this very counter, eyes half-lidded and locked with Gray's equally entranced ones – Lucy Heartfilia, confessing her love to Gray under a starry night sky as he moved to return her feelings –

"Love rival."

Her voice was chilling. The words slipped out of Juvia's mouth so quickly she had barely come out of her whirlwind thoughts in time to register them. But Juvia did not apologize; Lucy Heartfilia knew Natsu Dragneel. It was hardly a leap of thought to realize she probably knew all of Natsu Dragneel's friends and bandmates, too.

And any female who was close to Gray Fullbuster was Juvia Lockser's rival in winning his heart.

(And maybe it was a far stretch to think that she could win his heart. Juvia knew that, but she had also just met him this morning, in the flesh, and that had to stand for something, didn't it? _DIDN'T IT?!_ )

She quieted the rational side of her mind that was prodding at her to remain calm and collected, and she allowed her emotions to rule over her. It felt foreign to her, something she hadn't really allowed to happen since her sophomore year of high school, but in the confusion of all of this, Juvia couldn't find it in her to reign her feelings back in check.

And so, as Lucy turned to stare back at her, perplexed at Juvia's outburst, Juvia herself stomped to the stairwell, eyes already searching for a familiar mop of long, bushy black hair. The second floor consisted of the expansive main area and branches of hallways to either side of the stairwell; Gajeel stood near the hallway to the right, facing a smug-looking young man with bright pink hair.

It was impossible to mistake Natsu Dragneel for anybody else. The way he carried himself was always the same: free-spirited, proudly, and almost always wearing a playful grin. He stood in that manner this evening, his arms crossed, the whisper of a laugh still visible on his face.

"Glad to see you finally stopped by, though," Natsu said.

They were mid-conversation. Gajeel looked as if he was about to retort (probably loudly, judging by his aggressive posture), but then he caught a glimpse of Juvia standing at the top of the staircase.

"Care to introduce me to your friend?" Juvia asked. She didn't smile. Gajeel's eyes told her everything she needed to know: a quick flash of guilt that was quickly replaced with anger.

For a moment, she thought he might just wheel on Dragneel and punch him, but he didn't; Gajeel took a deep, low breath, relaxed his stance, and then nodded his head in Natsu's direction.

"You know who he is."

"Of _course_ I do," she snapped, her voice a little sharper than she'd intended it to be. She reeled herself back in for the moment. "But it's still nice to be introduced."

Gajeel huffed.

"Natsu, Juvia. There. Done." Gajeel rounded on Natsu. "We'll talk later."

Natsu looked offended.

"After barely even talking now?" The pink-haired singer raised an eyebrow. "How's that even make sense?"

"Natsu!"

Something blonde swept past Juvia, and suddenly the rock star had Lucy in his arms. He grinned and hugged her back.

"Lucy!"

"I didn't know you were in yet," she said, pulling back. "You didn't tell me you'd be here!"

"What? I thought you knew! We've been here since yesterday."

"NO WAY!" Lucy groaned. "Mirajane totally left me out of the loop!" Quite suddenly, the blonde girl wheeled around, gesturing to Juvia and Gajeel. "This is my new roommate and her friend."

"Your roommate?" Natsu stared at Juvia, and then smiled, striding over to her in a few large bounds. He stretched his hand out. "Nice to meetcha!"

A bit startled, Juvia took his hand.

Maybe Juvia had been reading the situation wrong. She glanced over at Lucy, who was smiling happily at Natsu's back.

Maybe she had just overreacted.

 _Juvia does that a lot,_ she rationalized mentally. _Juvia should calm down. Just calm down. Calm down. Calm down down down._ Her inner monologue made her anger and jealousy dissipate. Even though Gajeel _did_ have some explaining to do – she shot him a meaningful glance, which he replied to with an annoyed sigh and an eye-roll – even so, she should enjoy the moment.

She was shaking hands with a member of her favorite music group, after all.

"It's nice to meet you, too," she replied. "Juvia is honored!"

"Eh?" Natsu laughed. "Not like I'm a king or something."

"She's a fan," Lucy said. Natsu whistled.

"Neat! So what's your favorite song?"

"Stretched Out This Hand," she responded instantly. "The lyrics are amazing."

"Ah, I think so, too," Natsu said. He gestured behind him. "You should thank Lucy for the lyrics. She writes almost all of 'em!"

Juvia gaped.

"Ah, c'mon, Natsu, really?" Lucy said, obviously flustered by the revelation of this information. "I was gonna tell her on my own!"

"Yeah, right," Natsu said, turning away from Juvia to face his friend. "As if! You still write under that pen name Mira Forest or whatever."

" _Maya_ Forest," Lucy corrected. "And it's because I don't want to be recognized just because I'm with you guys!" She crossed her arms, huffing. "I want to be my own writer, not just your lyricist!"

Juvia was still in shock.

Lucy wrote the lyrics for Fairy Tail? It would explain how she knew Natsu. But why was she such a fangirl then? And how did she not know about the new album when she was involved to some degree with the band?

These were questions she would have to ask later once they were back in their dorm. And Juvia had every intention of getting all the answers she needed.

"But anyways, I'm sorry, this is all super sudden," Lucy apologized directly to Juvia. "I'm sorry if you're overwhelmed or anything. I didn't know he was gonna be here, though, I swear!"

"It's all right," Juvia said. "Juvia is just happy to meet Natsu."

Lucy looked relieved, and Juvia smiled, which Lucy returned.

"So how the heck did you get mixed up with Metal Brains, anyways?" Natsu asked. He stuck his tongue out at Gajeel for emphasis, who scoffed.

"A metal brain's better than whatever's inside _your_ head."

"OI!"

"Calm down," Lucy said. "I told you, Natsu, they're friends!"

Natsu looked between Juvia and Gajeel before bursting into laughter.

"I'da never guessed you hung around normal-looking people, dude!" Natsu's grin was contagious, and Juvia felt her remaining negative feelings begin to disappear. "How did you even manage to make such a nice friend, Gajeel?"

"I don't know," Gajeel answered honestly. "Same school, same town. Made sense." He shrugged.

"You don't need a huge reason to make a friend," Lucy said. "And it's not like how we became friends was anything special, either."

"Wanna bet?" Natsu raised his eyebrows.

"Okay," Lucy said, "So maybe there's something _unique_ about handing someone a brown bag to heave into on a school bus. I wouldn't call that _special,_ though."

"It was special to me!" Natsu said defensively. "I needed that bag!"

Lucy laughed, her bright ringing soprano causing Juvia to giggle a little, too.

"Juvia and Gajeel met in middle school," Juvia said simply. "We had the same classes through high school, too." After waiting a moment and realizing Gajeel didn't add to what she said, Juvia continued. "When Juvia needed a friend, Gajeel was there for her."

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Lucy cooed. She rolled her eyes when Natsu made a sound of agreement. "He's here for me even when I _don't_ need him."

"Oi," Natsu said warningly, "You don't mean that."

"I do," Lucy replied. She smiled and straightened her posture. "We should probably head downstairs before Mirajane starts wondering if we left without paying."

"Oh! Right!" Juvia had forgotten about the food.

"You gonna join us, Natsu?" asked Lucy.

"Nah," he said. "Metal Brains doesn't want me here. Besides, I gotta go find Happy. He's around here somewhere, I just can't find him."

"Is that what all that commotion was about?" Lucy asked. "I heard something break."

"Yeah," Natsu said. "Happy ran right by Gajeel and made him knock over some vase or something up here. Gramps won't be too happy."

" _I'm_ not too happy," Gajeel growled. "Your cat, your fault."

"Is not," Natsu whined.

"Stop," Lucy groaned. "No fighting. Please. It's too early in the semester for this." She looked pointedly at Juvia. "Let's go eat."

Juvia nodded, smiling. Gajeel rolled his eyes and followed the girls down the stairs as Natsu called out a goodbye. (Gajeel called out one more snide comment about Natsu paying for the vase, which Natsu returned with an equally snide comment.)

Maybe she was wrong.

Lucy might be a love rival, but she might also be a really good friend. Juvia had never had a close girl friend before, and if she had to pick one right now, it would be Lucy, hands down.

Besides, they both liked Fairy Tail a lot. It was why they were roommates in the first place, and Lucy knowing the band personally didn't change that. Gajeel knowing Natsu didn't change the fact he was her friend, either.

She had a lot of questions, but she also had a whole semester in front of her.

There was time.

The food was still warm when they sat down to eat, and Juvia enjoyed every moment of her evening meal together with her best friend and her new roommate.

xoxoxox

 **SHOUTOUT TO MY SISTER FOR READING THIS AND REVIEWING! KEEP IT UP! I'm writing this partly for me and partly for you, so let me know what you think!**

 **I would tell you I had midterms or something last week, but I didn't. I have 'em this week and next. I'm a fantastic student, hahaha. Anyways, sorry about the wait. And thanks for so many reviews, oh my goodness! I'm flattered! Thanks so much, you guys!**

 **That being said, I'm gonna reply to some of them here, since some are anons who I can't message back. Mostly to those of you with questions or observations. (But feel free to PM me if you wanna, or if I didn't answer you here! I love talking!)**

 **:** Thanks! I'm curious, too! I have an idea, and I know where I'm headed, but I'm still connecting the dots. :)

 **Baby pink 'n Baby blue:** Well, here's another one! :P Hahah, the others I'm keeping a secret. I was gonna add Gajeel, but I nixxed that once I decided Juvia was gonna be my main character instead of Lucy. I'm glad I did that.

 **arisapphyre:** Oh, gosh, thanks! That's the best compliment I can receive, tbqh!

 **Rose Tiger:** Thanks for your constant reviews, oh my gosh, it feels so good to have a consistent reader and reviewer!

 **summon-the-stars:** i'm pretty busy, so my updates will be quite sporadic. sorry lol. but i'm trying my best to not make you guys wait, like, months or anything!

 **z:** fan the flames, little one. just fan them. my story, my way. go write your own if you think it's too "predictable."

 **Zerocchi:** I haven't read any of the others tbh. The only Fairy Tail fic I read is Virtual Flames haha. (go read it everyone, btw.) But I'm glad to know my story's unique! When I was in the Naruto fandom, I always wanted to write a band fic, but there were so many out there and I was too shy to really get one off the ground. But I just HAD to for Fairy Tail. I couldn't help myself, haha!

 **GuestsDontTwerkTheyRead:** We'll see. :) There might maybe be something planned for those ships... ;)

 **ArouraJean:** Me, too! I hinted at that this chapter, actually. It'll get there. Eventually. :)

 **Thanks everyone for your reviews! Especially the ones about me getting the characters right or about you wanting to read more - those inspire me SOSO much, keep them coming! Love, kisses, and GO WATCH MIRACULOUS LADYBUG OH MY GOD IT'S FANTASTIC!**

 **xoxoPigTails**


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